dj bean

Ryan Spooner looking for first goal and permanent spot with Bruins

CHICAGO – Ryan Spooner is waiting, but then again he’s patient. That’s a useful asset as the skilled center looks for both his first goal and a future in the Bruins’ lineup.

Spooner has been the Bruins’ third-line center since Dec. 8, but with Chris Kelly getting closer to a return, there’s no telling what the plans are for him.

The 2010 second-round pick has 10 assists in 20 games for the B’s this season, flashing speed in the neutral zone and smarts with distributing the puck both in five-on-five play and in spending time on each of the Bruins’ power play units. His special teams presence extended to the penalty kill last month.

He’s also had struggles in the faceoff circle and admits to turning in some tougher outings, and he’s still looking for his first NHL goal.

“I'm a firm believer in what's going to happen is going to happen,” Spooner said when asked if he’s getting antsy to find the back of the net. “I'm not focused on it too much. I'm just going to go out there and control what I can control.”

The 21-year-old has used that mindset for months now, as he appeared capable of being an NHL player on a younger team in training camp but was sent to Providence given his inexperience and the Bruins’ depth at center with David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Kelly and Gregory Campbell. He went to Providence and performed well (five goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 21 games), getting a two-game callup in late October/early November but not getting an extended look until Pascal Dupuis’ slash of Kelly left the B’s in need of a center on Dec. 7.

Spooner has been centering Carl Soderberg for 16 the 18 games he’s been back up and has had Loui Eriksson on the other wing for the last three. The line has generated one goal (Soderberg’s game-winner last Saturday in San Jose) in their three contests together, though such a trio has a high ceiling offensively, especially for a third line. That could change in a matter of games when Kelly is ready to return, but right now there’s an awful lot of skill stashed among the bottom-six thanks to that trio.

“What I like about that is we've got players on our third line -- both Soderberg and Loui I think can move up to any of those two lines,” Claude Julien said. “I thought Carl Soderberg played a real good game when Looch was sick in Anaheim. He was really good on that line, gave it some real good speed and was real good on the forecheck, so he's been good that way.

“We've seen Loui, when they started playing well before the injury in Buffalo, I thought that line was starting to really jell, and unfortunately he got injured. I think if anything it's given me a lot of options by seeing those players move up and seeing what they've done on those lines. I think this is a situation where if you see those lines go stale for too long, you make that change.”

Though Eriksson is the most natural scorer on that line, Julien would also like to see Spooner go to the net more himself. As has been seen multiple times in his brief Bruins tenure, Spooner is plenty capable of beating opponents with his speed and going through them out of his own zone and through the neutral zone, so Julien wouldn’t hate to see him use those same skills to get to the net.

“Spoons, right now, when you look at the stat sheet, he's got a fair amount of assists because he's a good playmaker, but right now he's got to work on not only some D zone work, but also he's capable of scoring some goals, so he's got to find a way to get some goals and get that zero off the score sheet and get in there,” Julien said. “I think he's very capable of doing that. I've seen him in Providence take some pucks to the net and score some real nifty goals. I think for him, it's just a matter of gaining that confidence to take things to the net.”

Spooner is a confident young player, but he’s also realistic. He admits that faceoffs have been a difficult adjustment at each level (something very common for centers, though he’s up to 41.7 percent on draws) and even offered that he “wasn’t feeling it with the puck” in a subpar outing in the team’s loss to the Maple Leafs Tuesday. The NHL hasn’t been easy for him, but he didn’t expect it to be easy.

“Just being a first-year guy, it's hard to be consistent game in and game out,” Spooner admitted. “I'm getting used to the schedule and kind of getting run-down, and all that kind of stuff. … I actually haven't been feeling good the last week or so, but I guess for me, it's just trying to fight through that kind of stuff and try to find the consistency in my game.

“That's one thing that you can look around the locker room here and look at guys like Bergeron and Krejci and guys like that. They've kind of mastered that. Each and every game they go out there and play a pretty solid game. If I look at guys like that I can take something out of their game.”

If that inconsistency means Spooner becomes the odd man out, he’s willing to be patient again. He says he thinks staying in Boston watching the team’s centers would aid his development if they want to keep him as a 13th forward, though the team might rather him play in the AHL than sit in the NHL.

“I think for me right now, being here and kind of being in the environment and just watching some of the centermen here would be good for me, but I'm not really focused on that right now.”

There’s also the fact that as the team’s best AHL chip, teams might ask about Spooner in trade discussions. It would probably take a lot for Spooner to be pried away, however, so he will continue to try to get better as an NHL player as he hopes to remain one for the rest of the season.

“I think they have a plan for me,” Spooner added. “I've played some games here where I think I could have done better, but being a first year guy, that's kind of expected. Consistency for me is one thing that I'm trying to work on right now. I don't really focus on [what's to come]. If they want to send me back down, I'll go down there and I'll work on the things they want me to work on and make sure I have a strong summer and come back next year with a good attitude.”

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